or more correctly St Petersburg, at present the capital of the Russian empire, the residence of the sovereign, and the official centre of the administration, occupies the most northern position of any large place upon the globe, being in 59° 56' N. Lat., and 47° 58' E. Long. It stands about 20 miles above the mouth of the Neva, on a species of alluvial delta formed by the division of the main current into a multitude of smaller branches, and so exceedingly low as to have been originally almost on a level with the surface of the Gulf of Finland. It is only by the artificial elevation of its marshy soil to from 2 to 5 feet above its original level, that it has been effectively drained, and rendered comparatively free from inundations.

The capture, from the Swedes in 1702, of Nutzberg (now Schlossberg), a fortress situated at the point of exit of the Neva from Lake Ladoga, together with the taking, in the following year, of the fort of Kyrenia, by making Peter the Great master of the whole course of the river, seem first to have inspired that active prince with the idea of establishing here a strong military post and a commercial port. On the 16th May 1703, he laid, with his own hands, the foundation of the fortress which still exists in the centre of the city, and to which he gave the name of Petersburg. It is, however, highly improbable that the gigantic project of founding here the capital of an extensive empire could have at first possessed his mind; and it was not till the great victory of Poltava, in 1709, had made him master of the whole southern shore of the Gulf of Finland, that he ultimately determined upon the violent and entirely artificial formation of a city which he himself styled "a loophole through which the light of western trade and civilization was to be admitted into the darkness of half-barbarism" in vast Russia, was then buried. In a letter written by Peter on the field of battle, announcing to Count Apraxin the important victory he had just gained at Poltava, he significantly says—

"The foundation-stone of Petersburg, which has been for some time ready, is this day, with the blessing of God, definitely laid."

The construction of the city once determined on, Peter proceeded to execute his project with a barbaric energy and ardour which no obstacles could check or abate. The workmen first employed were Finns from the neighbouring districts, Swedish prisoners of war, and criminals condemned to hard labour; but at the end of the year 1709 orders were given to assemble from all parts of the empire, and even from Siberia, skilled workmen and labourers, in two divisions, each containing about 20,000 men, which relieved each other in relaying the summer. Exclusive of these, a large body of masons and bricklayers was separately organized for the purpose, and a forced levy was imposed upon the whole district in the vicinity of Moscow, of 3000 men with axes, of whom every tenth man was to be supplied with carpenter's tools and a horse. This levy amounted to 1 person on every 35 families; and the remaining 34 houses were obliged to give a money contribution, amounting to 2 rubles (equivalent to 15l. of our money), in lieu of personal service. During the first four years, it is calculated that 150,000 men were sent to the works at St Petersburg; and in order still further to accelerate its construction, Peter forbade, under the severest penalties, the erection of any brick or stone building throughout the empire. By means of this species of imprisonment, which continued until September 1712, the works rapidly advanced; but at a terrible cost of human life, caused by the unhealthy climate and the nature of the labour. At length it was found expedient to change the system of obtaining labour; and in 1718 the works were distributed among private contractors, and the compulsory impressment was replaced by a pecuniary impost.

Now were less severe and arbitrary measures employed for peopling the infant capital. The first inhabitants of the city consisted of the labourers collected from the interior of the empire, whose number, in 1713, amounted to 2500 persons, not including 1100 immediately attached to the imperial residences. No voluntary settlers making their appearance, Peter decreed—1. That all persons under age, of noble condition, who were not receiving a public education or attached to the public service, should be obliged to reside in St Petersburg. 2. That all persons attached to the court, and other nobles proprietors of 30 serfs and Petersburg upwards, should likewise be obliged to immigrate to the new city, and should erect houses there. 3. That a colony of 300 persons from the mercantile community of Moscow, and 300 artisans from the same city, should be transplanted to Petersburg; and 4. In 1717 orders were given to the provincial municipalities, under pain of the severest punishments, to select from the mercantile and artisan classes a certain number of respectable and wealthy families, and to transfer them without delay to St Petersburg. These severe and violent expedients, however, were not altogether successful in attaining their object; the nobility, under various pretexts, evaded the orders which forced them to inhabit a region buried in dense forests and pestilential marshes; and the settlers from the inferior classes profited by every opportunity to escape. But no obstacles could arrest the indomitable will of Peter; his severe regulations still continued to be enforced, though occasionally with some relaxation (thus, for example, in 1719 the nobles were permitted to absent themselves from St Petersburg, and to visit their estates, but only for five months at a time); and it was not until 1721 that the public offices and state tribunals were transferred from Moscow to the new capital.

The construction of Petersburg began with that portion of the present city which lies in the immediate vicinity of the fortress, on the northern or right bank of the Neva. The founder's intention was to construct a vast artificial island with streets and houses, to surround it with defences and to intersect the whole with numerous canals, like Amsterdam and other towns, which he had doubtless admired, in Holland. This project, however, was not executed. During the reign of Peter, some portions of the Admiralty quarter (on the southern bank) began to be built upon; and it is to this period that we must ascribe the erection of the following important edifices, some of which either no longer exist, or have been transformed to other purposes:—The four palaces (the Summer Palace, the Winter one, that of the Tsarevitch Alexei, and that of the Tsarevna Natalia), the cannon foundry with its village of habitations for the workmen, the admiralty, the galley-warehouse, the Gostinnoi Dvor or bazaar, and several residences of high functionaries. Some of the measures adopted by Peter to make his new capital the principal seat of foreign trade with the countries lying on the sea beyond the Baltic were as arbitrary as those by which he built and protected the city; for example, in 1717 the port of Archangel was forbidden to export more than one-third of the whole amount of its goods, while the remaining two-thirds were to be sent to Petersburg. In consequence of these protective measures, the foreign trade of the new city soon began to exhibit a rapid development; so much so, that in the last years of Peter's reign the number of foreign vessels that entered at Cronstadt (which was founded at the same time with Petersburg, and of which it forms the port) had risen to 120, or at least one-tenth of the amount at the present day.

The death of Peter the Great was followed by the abandonment, or the neglect of those energetic measures which were indispensable for the prosecution of a task so artificial as the construction of a capital in an unfavourable site; and the inhabitants, under various pretexts, left unfinished the erections they had begun. To complete the disorganization, a number of fires occurred in 1735 and 1737, unquestionably the work of incendiaries, whose obstinacy could scarcely be overcome by the severest punishments. Many spots thus became unoccupied, and multitudes of families remained without a shelter, the devastated ground being allotted, without regard to the rights of the former occupants, only to such persons as would undertake to build without delay. To put a stop to these irregularities, the Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered the formation of a committee, of which Munich was president, charged with superintending the rebuilding and extension of the city. In general, it may be said that she did not begin to improve again during this reign; it was divided into five wards; and about 1737 it numbered more than twenty churches and 70,000 inhabitants.

Under the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the violent measures employed to secure the peopling of Petersburg began gradually to be modified and relaxed. The inhabitants acquired the right of purchasing and selling houses, and all classes now exhibited a gradually increasing willingness to settle in the new capital. Towards the end of this reign the population reached 150,000. Among the skilful architects invited from foreign countries to contribute to the adornment of the city was the famous Biasielli, who constructed the Winter and Anichkoff palaces, the beautiful church of the Smolny monastery, and the house belonging to Count Striginoff, Volontaroff (now the Academy), and the hospital of Krasnokhvil (at present the Foundling Hospital). To this reign also belongs the erection of the cathedral of St Nicholas of the Sea, the church of the Annunciation in the Haymarket, the brick bazaar, or Gostinnoi Dvor, and many other edifices which still adorn the city.

The Empress Catherine II. exhibited an enlightened policy in Petersburg, abolishing all the oppressive regulations which had been intended to promote the development of St Petersburg, and succeeded in attracting thither considerable numbers of the middle and industrious classes, by the advantages and privileges she accorded to such as were willing to settle there; so that towards the end of her reign the population had reached 220,000, and the town was divided into ten wards, containing 4600 houses, two-thirds of which belonged to the state. Among the remarkable edifices of this epoch may be mentioned the cathedral of the Alexander-Nevskii monastery, the Marble and Tauride palaces, the Hermitage, and the Academy of Arts.

During the short reign of Paul considerable attention was given to the more equable allotment of the municipal imposts, and to the relief of the inhabitants from the billeting of troops; for the latter object several barracks were constructed; and the reforms begun in this reign were carried out by the emperor's successor, Alexander I. Few important additions were made to the architectural beauty of the city,—the most considerable being the cathedral or palace of St Michael, then strongly fortified, and surrounded by a fenc. It is to the reign of Alexander I. that Petersberg owes the regularity of its appearance, as well as a number of its most ornamental edifices, among which we may particularize the cathedral of Kazan, the Preobrazhenskii church, the palace of the late Grand Duke Michael, the vast Etat-Major, the Great Theatre, the Exchange, and others. Towards the end of this reign the city contained 7600 houses and 400,000 inhabitants.

During the administration of the late Emperor Nicholas many new edifices and monuments were added to those already existing; as the cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the Senate, the cathedral of St Isaac, the custom-house, two theatres, the edifices of the departments of the interior and public instruction, the Technological Institute, a number of vast barracks, the Alexander column, &c. At the commencement of the present reign Petersberg may be regarded as containing a space of more than 80 square versts (25 square miles), as containing 8230 houses and 480,000 inhabitants.

The river flows through a space of about eight miles within the city, and divides, at nearly the centre of this part of its course, into three principal branches,—the Great Nevà, the Little Nevà, and the Nevka, separating the town into four districts or "sides;" that of the Admiralty (lying on the left bank), that of the Vasilievskii Island (in Russian, Ostroff), that of Petersberg, and that of Vrubog. The width of the Great Nevà varies extremely in different parts of the city: at its broadest point, a little above the fortress, where it is crossed by the Troitskii (Trinity) Bridge, it is 2100 feet from bank to bank; while at other points it varies from that to about 1000 feet. The banks of the principal arm, during its passage through a great portion of the city, are on both sides lined with most magnificent granite quays, of a truly Roman grandeur and solidity of construction. The latter being furnished with an almost uninterrupted trottoir for foot-passengers, and broad roads for carriages, give to the city that monumental character of regularity and splendour which renders this capital in some respects the most imposing in Europe. The intensely blue colour and purity of the waters of the Nevà, and the rapidity of the current, give to this beautiful river the appearance of being always full, and render it a main ornament to the capital. The rapidity of the current is indicated by the number of cubic feet of water flowing in one second at the following places:—Above the Nevskii monastery, 114,659½; below the Okhta, 115,103½; at the Summer Garden, 89,932½; opposite Baird's foundry, 73,983½. The depth of the stream is also extremely unequal; being greatest within the limits of the city, generally diminishing after the principal stream divides into branches, and below the town having its bed so encumbered with sand-banks as to leave but a very narrow and winding channel for allowing vessels—and only those of very moderate burthen—to come up to Petersberg, where are situated the custom-house establishments. All large ships are thus obliged to discharge at Cronstadt, where they remain, while their cargoes are carried up and down the Nevà by lighters. The expense and inconvenience of this trans-shipment is great; and the delay so considerable, that a cargo is often longer in its transit from Cronstadt to Petersberg than in its voyage from London to Cronstadt in a sailing-vessel. Petersberg steam-tugs have only been for a comparatively recent period employed on the river. Men-of-war, all vessels of large size, built at Petersberg, have to be transported, even when empty, by means of "canals," over the shallows which obstruct the navigation below the city. The water of this river is unusually pure, light, and transparent, and is found to be very wholesome; but when used by strangers for the first time it not unfrequently produces a slight derangement of the digestive organs. A chemical analysis of the water, made by Hess, established the fact of its remarkable purity, 109 lb. giving only 47·2 grains of foreign ingredients.

Petersberg being far above any tidal influence, the destructive inundations which from time to time have occurred arise from the direction and long continuance of violent winds, combined in some cases with the melting of the ice in Lake Ladoga. Strong southerly gales, afterwards veering to the S.W. and W., by driving a large body of water up the gradually-narrowing bed of the Gulf of Finland, have on many occasions raised the level of the water in the Nevà 7, 9, 10, or more feet, causing it to overflow its banks, and spread devastation and ruin over the low-lying quarters of the city. Since the foundation of Petersberg, thirty-five considerable inundations have been recorded, the most violent and disastrous having taken place on the 10th September 1777, and 7th November 1824. On the former of these dates the water rose to 10½ feet, and on the latter to 14 feet above its ordinary level. The western quarters, or those lying nearest the sea, suffer most from these calamities; those quarters which lie farthest from the sea having never been at all damaged. It is probable that these inundations will become gradually less and less frequent, partly from the silting up of the mouths of the river, and also partly from the upheaval which the bed of the eastern portions of the Baltic is gradually undergoing.

The Nevà, from the rapidity of its current, would probably never be frozen over but for the immense quantity of ice floated down from the Ladoga, which, after covering the river for a longer or shorter time in drifting masses, is ultimately frozen into a solid mass, sometimes attaining, in prolonged seasons of severe frost, a thickness of 3 or more feet, and supplying the inhabitants with excellent sledge-roads, as well as a large course for trotting matches, which is annually erected in view of the Winter Palace. The surface, however, is usually at first very uneven, presenting huge blocks of ice of the most irregular and fantastic shapes; and it is not till all the inequalities are levelled by a thick coating of snow, that a sledge, much less a skater, can make its way among its jagged edges.

The period at which the Nevà is definitively frozen over varies from the latter half of October to the first half of December; in general, however, it is covered with ice about the middle of November. The ice remains without breaking up in general to about the middle of April, though there have been years when the opening of the river occurred as early as the 20th of March, and as late as the end of April, o.s. (i.e., the 12th of May). The mean duration of the time during which the river remains covered may be said to be 146 days. There have been years—as 1816—when the river, after the breaking up of the ice, has been again frozen over; but such events are rare. About a week or a fortnight after the breaking up of the ice upon the river itself, large masses of that which covered the lake begin to come down; and this lasts for a considerable time. The processes of freezing and of breaking up of the ice are of longer or shorter duration according to the state of the weather; and while the ice is passing, the bridges of boats being necessarily removed, the only communication with the opposite shore was formerly by means of small boats somewhat resembling the caïques of the Bosphorus. Occasionally even this mode of transit was rendered impossible by Petersburg, the density of the floating stream ice, and then all communication whatever was interrupted for hours, and even in some instances for a whole day. The completion, however, of the handsome new bridge—of cast-iron, resting upon granite piers—projected and terminated in the reign of the late emperor, has in some measure remedied this inconvenience; but Petersburg is still very deficient in bridge accommodation of a permanent character.

Independently of the arms or branches into which the Neva divides, the city is intersected by a number of canals. Of these, the most considerable is the Fontanka, which has a general depth of 11 feet, and a breadth of about 180 feet, admitting a multitude of the rude and cumbrous barges or "barks" which bring firewood, hay, grain, &c., from the interior of the country. Watermen also ply for hire upon these canals; and at short intervals large roofed and windowed barges are permanently moored, serving as floating shops for the sale of fish, which are kept alive in boats alongside sunk almost under water, and thus can be supplied even in the severest winters. Besides the Fontanka, five other canals might be mentioned, but they are all much inferior to it both in depth of water and in breadth. They for the most part follow a more or less curved direction, communicating at both extremities with the Neva; and thus all possess some degree of current, though generally of a force insufficient to secure them from silting up, unless periodically deepened by artificial means. They unquestionably add much both to the beauty and the salubrity of the town, though they are hardly rapid enough for perfect drainage; and in the intense heats of a Petersburg summer the effluvia from them are sometimes disagreeable. They are crossed by about 170 bridges, generally of stone piers with a drawbridge, to allow the passage of vessels; but as masted craft now never enter them, the latter arrangement is rapidly giving way to the use of iron, and several of them are on the suspension principle. The number of these canals, which in traversing the city in any direction the traveller is perpetually crossing, gives to St Petersburg an appearance quite original and characteristic, unlike that of Venice, and no less dissimilar to that of the great cities of Holland, but still very striking and remarkable. The great feature of the canals is the interminable lines of majestic granite quays with which these avenues are everywhere lined and bordered, in nothing inferior to the noble structures of the same kind with which the Neva is bound in during so large a portion of its course within the city. The water in the canals, from the sluggishness of the current, and the great amount of sewerage delivered into it from the houses, is of no very inviting purity. All the drinking-water of the inhabitants is supplied from the river, and is taken through the town in barrels placed upon wheels and drawn by horses. The employment of the steam-engine and high-pressure service-pipes has not yet been generally adopted.

For purposes of police and administration, Petersburg is divided into thirteen quarters (tehast) as follows:—The four Admiralty quarters, Liténina (Foundry), Moscow, Narva, Karétnaia (Carriage), Rojéstvenskaia, Vassilievskii Island, Petersberg, Wyborg, and Okhta. Each of these is subdivided into from three to six wards (kvarter), with the exception of the last, which has only two.

Of these it may be remarked that, generally speaking, the four Admiralty quarters, and that of the Liténina, all lying on the southern or left bank of the Neva, are more particularly inhabited by the richer and fashionable classes, and by the higher order of government officials, and are the seat of the principal public buildings and most imposing monuments; while the Vassilievskii (Ostroff) is the chief centre of commerce and of learning (containing the exchange, the custom-house, the academies of arts and sciences, and the university); and the Petersberg, and still more the Wyborg quarters, must be looked upon as the poorest and most remote districts. The various branches of the Neva form a considerable number of islands, some of which are covered with country houses and gardens, the summer residences of the higher classes. The principal of these are the islands of Yelagin (where there is a summer palace of the emperor), Kámenni, Krestóvski, Petrovski, and Aptékareski, or Apothecary Island, so called from the botanic garden which has been established on it. Most of these are laid out in a park-like manner; and in summer, when their numerous fantastic villas are inhabited, they present an animated and beautiful appearance.

The general disposition of the streets in the Admiralty district of St Petersburg is monotonously symmetrical. The central point is the enormous square, or "place" (for it is far from being a square), of St Isaac, on which stand the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, the Senate, the cathedral of St Isaac, and other important monuments and public buildings. From this square, diverging like radii of a circle, the centre of which is the chief entrance of the Admiralty, crowned with a lofty gilded spire, visible from every point of the city, run three great principal streets or prospekti, forming a small angle with each other, and extending, in perfectly straight lines, to a great distance. Of these, the widest and handsomest in the town is the famous Nevski Prospect, not much less than 3 miles in length from its origin to its termination at the monastery of St Alexander Nevski; the next is the Gorokhovaia (Pease Street); and the third the Voznesénskaiia (Street of the Ascension), each about half the length of the Nevski, and large and busy thoroughfares, though inferior to the first both in width and in the number and splendour of the houses which line them. These three main avenues are themselves traversed, nearly at right angles, by a number of transverse streets, among the principal of which are the Great Muyakina, the Great Garden Street (Sadovia), the Vladimirskaiia, and others. All the streets, with the exception of a few in the remoter and poorer quarters, are paved with small stones; but some of the principal ones are laid down with wooden hexagon blocks, as was tried some years back in London; and provided with flagged footways. The latter are in the Nevski of ample, and even almost superfluous width; but in the more busy and less fashionable quarters they are much cramped by frequent openings to steps leading downwards to cellars and underground shops.

The Vassilievskii Ostroff, the next important quarter of the town, is laid out with mathematical and almost fattiguing regularity. Running parallel with the Neva, and with each other at equal distances, are three prospects, the Great, Middle, and Little, and these are intersected at exactly equal distances, and at right angles, by a great number of streets called lines, known by their successive numbers up to nearly thirty. The word "line," as here used, indicates not the whole street, but only the row of houses forming one side of it; so that each street consists of two "lines." The roadway of all the streets, instead of, as in England, forming a rounded surface, which is highest in the middle, slopes downward from each side towards the centre, which being the lowest part, forms a channel along which the rain or melted snow is directed. The streets of the city present in general a showy, and even grand appearance; the great height and immense size of the houses, and the uniformity of their appearance,—the police regulations obliging each proprietor to employ stucco or whitewash in which only a moderate selection of tints is permitted,—all contribute to confirm the appropriateness of the title of "City of Palaces" which travellers have given to St Petersburg. But after a short residence, the impression of magnificence which this capital at first excites gives way to an overpowering feeling of monotony and artificial, or rather milli- Petersburg, far from formality and stiffness; and the "City of Palaces" seems gradually to have transformed itself into a city of barracks. The eye and the imagination seek in vain for that stamp of individuality, that atmosphere of national character, which gives a kind of mingled strangeness and homeliness to cities much inferior to St Petersburg in architectural pretension, and which forms, so to speak, the physiognomy of a place. Here all seems obtrusively to assert that the whole was a creation of yesterday, the effort of single will; and the stranger cannot refrain from feeling that, as a mighty individual breath called up from the swamps of Ingria this wondrous exhalation of artificial magnificence, it might again pass into nothingness without occasioning any void among the nations of Europe. The total number of streets in Petersburg is rather above 450. They are tolerably well lighted—the principal thoroughfares with gas, the others with lamps. For the protection of the city and the preservation of order, Petersburg is under the charge of a military and civil governor, and of a grand master of police, who has under him the chiefs of the quarters (telestnii pristar), and their subordinates the ward-officers (kvartolnit), each of whom has a certain fixed extent of jurisdiction. In each quarter there is an office for the transaction of police business, having among others a bureau for the registration of passports, &c., a tribunal, a lock-up house for criminals and disorderly persons, and a station for firemen, who are all soldiers; and indeed the whole of the police are organized in military fashion, the officials wearing the military uniform and enjoying military rank. The police-station of every quarter is furnished with a lofty tower, in which a sentinel is continually on the look-out for the first indications of a fire. Signals are immediately given by a certain number of black balls by day, or lanterns by night, hoisted on an iron frame, which crowns the look-out tower; and the point where the fire has occurred being instantly communicated to all the stations, a large number of men and engines are speedily on the spot. By one of the curious half-oriental customs which abound in this country, the emperor, when in Petersburg, or at all events some member of the imperial family, is almost invariably present at any fire that breaks out. The corps of firemen consists of about 950 persons, with 52 engines, to which, in case of need, could be added a large number of men and engines belonging to the regiments of the guard. At frequent intervals, generally at the corners of the streets, are erected small wooden watch-houses, called "budkas," at the door of which stands a sentinel, till lately armed with a species of halberd or battle-axe. Of these erections there are altogether 310 in the city, to each of which are attached three watchmen, who relieve each other in mounting guard day and night. In spite of the number of its functionaries and the elaborateness of its organization, the police of St Petersburg is one of the worst and most inefficient in Europe; and the rarity of any important disturbance of public tranquillity is to be attributed rather to the extreme docility of the national character, than to the ability or intelligence of the police. The salaries allotted by government being in most cases ludicrously inadequate either to the securing of personal integrity, or even to enable the various functionaries to maintain the style of living which it is nevertheless expected they will keep up, have rendered the Russian police notorious for corruption and dishonesty, and the bad reputation of the body—bad even in a country where the plague-spot of official peculation is so widely spread—has tended to exclude from its ranks not only men of comparatively respectable position and education, but even all such as set much store by the good opinion of society in general.

Petersburg is remarkable not only for the width and regularity of its streets, but for the number and occasionally the enormous extent of its squares, a few of which have a central inclosure planted with trees, as in London, but the Petersburg greater number corresponds rather to the French "place," being properly squares neither in regularity of form nor in possessing the ornament of gardens. Many of them are so vast and empty as to destroy all impression of grandeur by leaving no proportion between the height of the buildings that surround them and the huge desert of their expanse. The largest and most imposing of them all is the enormous irregular space made up of the different squares respectively styled those of the Winter Palace, bounded by that edifice, the Etat-Major, and extending along one end of the palace to the river; of the Admiralty, giving off the Nevskii Prospect and the Gorokhovskii opposite the centre of the last-named building; of St Isaac; and of the Senate. Vast and striking as are the numerous edifices which line various parts of this great inclosure, they fail to produce their full effect upon the eye, and they appear insignificant in comparison with the extensive desert amid which they rise. Of the other squares, the most important are the Semeniskii, or Haymarket, which is the largest and best-frequented mart for provisions, and where the frozen animals, skinned and preserved whole, form in winter a spectacle so new and curious to the stranger in Russia. The Champ de Mars, as it is generally called, though its proper name is Tsaritsin Lug, is a vast and very beautiful inclosure for the parading of troops, and is rendered more attractive to the eye by being bounded on two sides by the lofty trees of the summer garden, and the grounds of the palace of the late Grand Duke Michael. What adds to the beauty of this parade-ground is its being close to the Marble Palace, the Place of Suvoroff (where is a bronze statue of that distinguished general), the handsome barracks of the Pavlovskii regiment, and the castle of St Michael. The two squares which most accurately correspond to the idea conveyed to an Englishman by that term are those in front of the Alexandra Theatre, and of the principal façade of the Michael palace. We may also mention the Rumiantzoff square on the Vassiliévskii Ostroff, adorned by an obelisk dedicated to the memory of that marshal; the square in which stand the great theatre and the new circus (a very graceful and ingeniously-planned building); and the numerous extensive parade-grounds in different parts of the town, generally in the immediate vicinity of the barracks of those regiments for whose use they are designed. Among these, the most important are the exercising-grounds of the Preobrajenski regiment (470 by 350 yards), of the Semeonovskii (700 by 470 yards), and of the Izmailovskii regiment, of dimensions hardly inferior. The Champ de Mars, of which we have already noticed the position, is a rectangle of 525 yards in length by 290 in width; and here take place, particularly on the 1st May, those great parades of the guard in which as many as 60,000 troops, of all arms, are sometimes assembled in one evolution. At the barrier on the Narva and Moscow roads are erected very imposing triumphal arches, the former to commemorate the exploits of the Russian guard during its campaigns against the French, and the second in celebration of the services of the Russian troops in Persia, Turkey, and in the pacification of Poland during the reign of the late emperor.

The general proportion of brick to wooden dwellings in St Petersburg is as 3 to 5; but this ratio varies exceedingly in the different quarters,—in the wealthier being as high as 4 to 3, while in one of the poorer and more remote districts there is only one brick house to 23 wooden dwellings. Generally, also, the size of the houses, and consequently the average number of inhabitants to a house, increases in a direct ratio to the opulence of the particular quarter we may be examining: thus the highest average number of dwellers under one roof is found in the three first Admiralty quarters, the most fashionable portion of the city, where the ratio varies from 115 to 150, and Petersburg, even as high as 200 individuals to a single house. Many of these residences are therefore of very great extent; and they are generally built round one or even several courtyards, with a carriage-entrance, or *porte-cochère*, from the street, and a multitude of staircases, similar to the arrangement of the inns of court in London, leading to the various apartments. It is consequently very rare to find a single family occupying a whole house; and it is only a few great aristocratic families of unusual wealth whose means enable them to monopolize an entire dwelling. By far the greater number of persons in the upper and richer classes of society rent lodgings or "apartments," as they are called by the French, of a style and extent commensurate with their means. These are generally all on one floor, or "flat;" and the rooms being generally *enfilade*, are at once showy on ceremonial occasions and sufficiently convenient in ordinary life. The kitchens and other offices are for the most part on the same floor. Stables and coach-houses are in most cases constructed in the lower storey of the house, opening on the interior court-yard. Shops are common enough even in the largest and most splendid houses; and it is only in comparatively few instances that the proprietor refuses to allow a shop to be established even in a dwelling which has in other respects almost the aspect of a palace. The rooms are almost universally heated by large stoves of white earthenware tiles, or cast-iron painted to imitate marble. The fuel is wood; though an increasing taste for the use of the English grate, and the gradually-growing adoption of coal, together with the increasing dearness of firewood, seems to indicate that in course of time the latter combustible will come into general use. Russia possesses extensive deposits of coal; but the great expense of transport renders it much cheaper to purchase English coal, which is generally imported by ships coming out in ballast.

The number of churches in St Petersburg is 196; of which the Russian-Greek faith has 54 parish churches, 118 domestic chapels, and 2 monasteries. There are also 15 Lutheran places of worship, 6 Roman Catholic, and 1 Armenian. The British factory in Petersburg maintains a handsome and well-frequented chapel of the Church of England; and there is a small congregation of Dissenters connected with the United States mission.

The Russian churches in general never fail powerfully to attract the attention of the stranger by their striking though barbarous architecture, the style being mostly an attempt to reconcile the corrupt Byzantine forms with the details of more classical models. They have uniformly an assemblage of five domes or cupolas—a large one in the centre, surrounded by four smaller ones; these portions of the edifice being in most cases gilded, and glittering in the sun. The tall and not ungraceful campanile, or bell-tower, is usually, as in Italy, detached altogether from the main body of the edifice. The most curious and interesting of the religious edifices of St Petersburg is the monastery of St Alexander Nevskii, considered, the third in rank among the numerous *lauras* of the Russian empire. Its superior is the metropolitan or archbishop of St Petersburg and Novgorod, one of the three highest prelates, the other two presiding over the dioceses of Moscow and Kieff. It is dedicated to the saint whose name it bears, and whose relics are deposited in a rich shrine of silver. Here are interred many members of the imperial house, as well as several persons illustrious for their genius or services; as Suvoroff, the historian Karamzin, and the poets Krulloff and Zuckovskii. The buildings are of great extent; and the conventual precinct, surrounded by a wall, contains a cathedral and five other churches, the residence of the metropolitan, and the cells of the monks, together with the theological academy, a seminary, and the consistory. Divine service is performed here with great magnificence, and the choir (whose voices in the Russian churches are not assisted by Petersberg, any instrumental accompaniment) is celebrated for its perfection.

The cathedral of St Peter and St Paul, in the fortress, on an island on the north side of the Neva, is surmounted by a slender gilt spire 360 feet in height, which forms a conspicuous object visible from almost every point in and near the city. In it may be seen the tombs of the more recent sovereigns of Russia, together with many trophies won by Russian valour,—as the keys of Warsaw delivered to Suvoroff in 1794, and the colours of the Capudan pasha's flagship, taken in 1770, and deposited by Catherine II. with her own hand at the foot of the tomb of Peter the Great. Not far from the fortress, on the banks of the Neva, is carefully preserved the small one-storied wooden cottage inhabited by Peter the Great, in which may be seen his boat, turning-lathe, many articles of dress worn by him, and a multitude of objects exhibiting his remarkable skill as a turner, joiner, and carpenter. Near this is the curious little wooden church of the Trinity, first constructed by Peter in 1703, in memory of the foundation of the city.

The cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan was erected in memory of the defeat of Napoleon in 1812. It stands on the Nevskii Perspective, and is a clumsy and ungraceful imitation of St Peter's at Rome, consisting of a central building approached in front by a semicircular colonnade, before the extremities of which stand bronze colossal statues of Barclay de Tolly and Kutuzoff. The interior is of great magnificence, the *ikonostas* or screen in front of the high altar being composed of silver (4000 lb. weight) recovered by the Don Kazaks from the French troops, who had plundered it in 1812 from the various churches of Moscow. But the most precious ornament of this cathedral, in the opinion of the superstitious Russian, is the so-called miraculous image (picture) of the holy virgin of Kazan. The walls are hung with trophies and colours taken from the French in the course of that important campaign, and with the keys of fortresses occupied by the Russian troops in the years 1812, 1813, and 1814. Among these repose also the dust of Kutuzoff, who so powerfully contributed to the triumphs of that great national struggle. But the largest and most splendid of the sacred edifices is unquestionably the cathedral of St Isaac of Dalmatia, begun in 1818, and consecrated with great ceremony May 60, 1858. It stands on the Admiralty Square, and is, like all churches of the Greek denomination, in the form of an equal-limbed cross, the centre surmounted by a dome round which four smaller cupolas are disposed at the angles. It is built of granite, highly polished, and the four faces are furnished with as many porticos resting upon gigantic columns of the same stone, the shaft of each being in a single piece. The pediments and the drum of the great dome are richly adorned with bas-reliefs in bronze, colossal statues of angels, &c.&c. This edifice is among the very largest cathedrals of Europe; and its height to the summit of the cross is 317 feet. Nor is it less remarkable for solidity of construction, high finish, and beauty of materials, than for its colossal dimensions or richness of decoration. It is, however, to be regretted that the general appearance is heavy and ungraceful; the different masses are ponderous without dignity, and vast without grandeur; and it is perhaps only the splendid effect of the gilding of the dome and surrounding cupolas that saves the general aspect from being sombre and unmeaning. Nothing can exceed the magnificence of the interior. Enormous columns, entirely incrustated with the most costly malachite, gold, silver, and precious stones, are employed everywhere with the most dazzling prodigality. Many distinguished artists, both Russian and foreign, as Neff and Bruni, have executed frescoes of great size, with which the interior of the dome is profusely decorated; and the general impression of the work—though of course not Petersburg, to be compared for architectural grandeur either to St Peter's at Rome or St Paul's in London—is unquestionably one of overwhelming magnificence. The construction of this vast and costly edifice was entrusted to a French architect, M. Montferrant, who was fortunate enough to survive to witness the consecration of the cathedral in 1858, but who died a few days after the ceremony. Among the other ecclesiastical edifices may be mentioned the beautiful church of the convent of Sololoi, constructed by the celebrated Rastrelli; the church of St Nicholas Morskoi, both remarkable for their graceful proportions; and the church of the Izmailoff regiment, deserving of notice for its vast dimensions.

St Petersburg, a city of comparatively recent existence, cannot be expected to possess a very great number of monuments, but those that do exist will stand comparison with the most majestic objects of which any modern capital can boast. The chief are the colossal equestrian bronze statue of Peter the Great erected by Catherine II., and the granite monolithic column raised in memory of Alexander I. Both these monuments stand, in admirable sites, on the Isaac Place,—the former in front of the new cathedral, and between the façade of the Senate House and the western wing of the Admiralty; and the latter on the space between the front of the Winter Palace and the semicircle formed by the immense building of the Etat Major. The statue is of colossal dimensions, representing the creator of Petersburg in the act of curbing his rearing steed on the very summit of an enormous block of granite which serves as a pedestal, and stretching out his right hand with gesture indicative of sovereign power. The hind legs of the horse are trampling upon a serpent,—the emblem of the ignorance and barbarism over which the hero triumphed in his great work of regenerating an empire; and the reptile, together with the flowing tail of the quadruped, are most ingeniously contrived to add to the equilibrium and stability of the group. The pedestal is a real boulder, brought with immense difficulty from Finland, and on which the emperor is related to have actually stood during his life; and if the stone had been left entirely in its natural state, the work, whether for sublimity or originality, would have left nothing to be desired. Unfortunately, however, it was thought necessary to dress and cut away a considerable portion of the front of the block, so as to give more abruptness to the supposed precipice; but the effect has been to deteriorate very much the grand simplicity of the whole. The inscription consists merely of the following words in Latin on one side of the pedestal, and in Russian on the other:—PETRO: PRIMO: CATHARINA: SECUNDA.

The Alexander column is, we believe, the largest monolithic shaft in the world; it is, altogether, with the bronze pedestal on which it stands, 155 feet in height, of dark granite brought from Finland, and the capital is surmounted by a bronze figure of an angel supporting and pointing to a cross. The latter portion is of no great beauty or significance, nor indeed are the bas-reliefs which ornament the base; but the effect of the simple shaft of stone, unbroken by fluting or any other decoration, is majestic in the highest degree. The diameter of the shaft at the base is 14 feet, and the length of the shaft or monolith itself, 84 feet.

Of the numerous palaces in Petersburg, occupied by various members of the imperial family, the most extensive and splendid is indubitably the Winter Palace, which, with the Hermitage, to which it is united by a bridge over a canal and a series of galleries, forms an uninterrupted line of buildings extending along the Nevà for a distance of above a third of an English mile. The Winter Palace is the actual residence of the emperor, and the present edifice was entirely rebuilt after a fire which destroyed the former building on the same spot in 1838. The general style of the architecture is Italian, and three sides being situated on large open spaces,—the river and its quay, the parade-ground, and the great square on which the Alexander Petersburgh column stands,—presents an imposing effect from many points. The principal apartments are of great magnificence; the hall of St George, the famous "Salle Blanche," the hall of the marshals, the Great chapel, &c., are of noble proportions; the former, at least, adorned with numerous pictures, representing the triumphs of Russian arms by sea and land, and portraits of the sovereigns and illustrious warriors of the empire. Here, too, the stranger is struck by the modest little cabinet in which the Emperor Nicholas passed the working hours of his indefatigable life, the simple and scanty furniture, and the plain iron camp-bed on which he slept and on which he died, covered by the gray military cloak that he always wore. But by far the most interesting portion of the palace is the Hermitage, originally erected by Catherine II. as a place of retreat from the wearisome ceremonial of royalty. This building, to which considerable additions were made by the late emperor, is now transformed into one of the most magnificent museums of art in Europe; and the new buildings, by the skilful manner in which they are lighted, and the indescribable splendour of their fittings-up,—the floors being of the richest parquet-work, and the ceilings (of iron to diminish the danger of fire) most magnificently painted and gilded, form a casket in every way worthy of the treasures they contain. The paintings are arranged in schools; and the gallery is eminently rich in various departments of art. The old pre-Raphaelite painters are well-represented; there are capital works, in the finest condition, of Salvator Rosa, and indeed of all the great Italian masters, with the exception of Raphael himself, and a multitude of works equally valuable for their intrinsic merit and for the light they throw on the history of art. The Spanish subdivision abounds also in chefs-d'œuvre; the famous "Christ with the Lamb," and the equally famous "Ascension of the Virgin" of Murillo, together with many interesting though less splendid works of that great painter; a number of most admirable examples of Velasquez, among which may be noticed the two incomparable full-length portraits of Philip II. and Olivarez, together with the finished studies of the heads of the same works, and a crowd of other productions of high interest. Many of these pictures were obtained from the Soult collection. Vandyck is also richly represented, as a very large portion of the Houghton gallery was purchased by the court of Russia. The German, Dutch, and Flemish schools may be studied here with extraordinary success; the collection of Rembrandt alone filling one large hall almost entirely; while the finest works of Teniers, Douw, Wouvermans, Van Ostade, Paul Potter, Terburg, Miers, not to mention the great landscape-painters—as Berghem, and above all, Ruysdael—cover the walls with a truly imperial profusion. Besides these treasures of painting, the Hermitage now contains a collection of coins and medals, recently augmented by the acquisition of the famous cabinet formed by the late M. Reichel, which for the rarity and beauty of its pieces and the completeness of its historical series, is perhaps without a superior in Europe. An account of the curiosities preserved in the Hermitage would be imperfect without at least a passing mention of the portrait-gallery of the Russian sovereigns, as well as of a very singular collection of objects belonging to or connected with Peter the Great, exemplifying his skill in works of mechanical dexterity.

Many of the educational establishments of St Petersburg excite the surprise of the stranger, from the enormous scale on which they are maintained, as well as—to the honour of the government be it said—for the liberality with which they are administered. The Foundling Hospital, now rather a school for poor children than a receptacle for infants abandoned by their parents, is one of the largest establishments in Europe. The convent of Sololoi, devoted Petersburg, to the education of young ladies of the noble and middle classes of society, is maintained in a great measure at the expense of the state. The special military schools, or cadet-corps, are also of extraordinary extent, some being devoted to particular branches of the service, as the artillery, the engineer department, roads and communications, mining (for everything in Russia is organized more or less on a military footing) the naval service, &c. &c. Of institutions of a purely civil nature and of the higher order, we may specify the university (now, 1858, numbering about 800 students), the law college, the Alexander Lyceum (the two latter devoted to the education of boys of the higher class, and together containing 400 pupils), 5 gymnasia (intended principally as preparatory to the university course, and numbering about 1250 scholars). In all these, as well as in the more special military schools, the pupils, and even the professors on ceremonial occasions, wear a military uniform, with the sword and cocked hat; though in the civil establishments, drilling and the use of arms do not form an indispensable part of the education.

The hospitals of St Petersburg are numerous and tolerably well administered; some of them are supported by the crown, and others founded by private charity, and devoted to particular classes of suffering humanity. The Academy of Medicine gives regular instruction to 450 students, who, after receiving a medical education at the expense of the state, are in some cases obliged to serve for a certain period in the interior and with the troops.

Among the more prominent scientific and literary institutions are the Academy of the Fine Arts, the Academy of Sciences, and in particular the Imperial Public Library, which contains upwards of 450,000 volumes of printed books, and more than 20,000 MSS., many of them of great rarity, particularly an immense number of autographs of illustrious persons, and works relating to oriental literature. This library has recently undergone great reforms in its administration, and is, like almost all collections, museums, &c., in Russia, opened to the public with great liberality.

The manufactures of St Petersburg are numerous and extensive. Some of them are carried on by the government, but the majority are in the hands of private individuals. Among the former are manufactories of gunpowder, tapestry, plate-glass and porcelain, and a cannon foundry. Of the other manufactures the principal are silk, cotton, and woollen goods, sailcloth, leather, glass, jewellery, paper, tobacco, mathematical and surgical instruments, &c.

The following table gives the movement of shipping at the port of St Petersburg during the last five years, together with the declared value of exports and imports, and the amount of the customs-duties collected during that time:

| Year | Ships | Tonnage | Imports | Exports | Customs from | |------|-------|---------|---------|---------|--------------| | | | | | | | | 1833 | 1,991 | 357,548 | 11,174,739 | 8,267,471 | 1,908,915 | | 1834 | 17 | 3,480 | 3,827,686 | 1,438,543 | 1,025,578 | | 1835 | | | 2,485,525 | 451,206 | 523,564 | | 1836 | 3,574 | 519,710 | 10,766,940 | 8,586,775 | 1,284,254 | | 1837 | 2,723 | 455,464 | 13,899,404 | 9,600,839 | 1,901,260 |

The principal countries trading with St Petersburg, with the numbers of vessels belonging to each, in 1857 were—England, 902 (tonnage 209,352); Holland, 549; Denmark, 212; Sweden, 150; Prussia, 141; Hanover, 139; Russia, 120; France, 128; Lebeck, 92; Norway, 75; Oldenburg, 47; Anhalt, 43; Naples, 25; Mecklenburg, 23; Brandenburg, 11; Hamburg, 7; Belgium, 2; Portugal, 2. Of the total number of vessels, 478 were steamers; and of these, 171 were English. The principal articles of import in 1857 were—gold and silver, L488,773; sugar, 55,979,307 lb.; coffee, 6,716,676 lb.; tobacco, 2,163,494 lb.; wine in cask, 13,240,597 lb.; ditto in bottles, 978,794; olive oil, 13,255,739 lb.; dye-stuffs, 42,848,450 lb.; salt, 20,872,357 lb.; coal, 23,351 tons; raw cotton, 65,413,914 lb.; cotton yarn, 10,481,324 lb.; silk, raw and spun, 144,222 lb.; wool, spun, 2,594,454 lb.; cotton goods, 947,417 lb.; flaxen goods, 249,123 lb.; silk goods, 161,844 lb.; woollen goods, 625,147 lb.; Petersberg. The chief articles of export during the same year were—gold and silver, L167,414; hemp, 56,809,697 lb.; pelts, 1,857,816 lb.; tallow, 97,228,918 lb.; raw hides, 6,034,450 lb.; Russian leather, 894,010 lb.; iron, 13,518,922 lb.; copper, 5,576,165 lb.; bristles, 2,560,165 lb.; cabbage, 15,311,470 lb.; linen, 42,359 pieces; grain, 80,174,944 quintals.

The population of the city, according to the census of 1855, was 490,808. The proportion of males to females is as two to one, arising from the great number of soldiers (principally the guard, which alone amounts to about 60,000 men) permanently stationed in and about St Petersburg, and the large population of peasants and workmen who come from the interior for a time, and return to their families after a longer or shorter absence. The peasants, workmen, servants, and soldiers together constitute about three-fifths of the whole population; the nobility comprises about 44,000, the foreigners 16,000, the merchantmen 12,400, and the clergy 2500. The nobility form only about one-tenth of the total population; and it may be calculated that to every noble there are rather more than three servants.

(1858)

S., a government of European Russia, lying between N. Lat. 58. and 60. 30.; and between E. Long. 27. 30. and 33. 30., bounded on the N. by the gulf and archduchy of Finland and by Lake Ladoga, E. by the government of Novgorod, S. by that of Pskov, and W. by Lake Peipus and the government of Esthonia. Length from N.E. to S.W., 265 miles; breadth, about 90 miles; area, 20,739 square miles. The surface is almost entirely level, and a great part of it is occupied with lakes and morasses. From a branch of the Valdai Hills, which occupies the S. of the government, the country slopes gradually downwards towards the N.W., and in this direction most of the rivers flow. The chief of these are the Neva, flowing from Lake Ladoga to the Gulf of Finland; the Luga, which crosses the country from S.E. to N.W.; the Piussa, flowing northwards, and falling into the Gulf of Finland near the mouth of the Luga; and the Volchov, by which the waters of Lake Ilmen in Novgorod are conveyed to Lake Ladoga. Besides the large lakes of Ladoga, Peipus, and Pskov, which lie on the frontiers of the government, there are many others of a smaller size in the interior. The soil is sandy, and the climate cold, moist, and unfavourable to agriculture. The forests of the government are of great extent, but carelessly managed. St Petersburg contained in 1849, 1,466,931 acres of arable land, 473,969 of meadows, 7,405,114 of wood, and 3,731,156 of waste land. In the same year the government produced 9,465,522 bushels of corn, and 1,468,278 of potatoes; and it possessed 118,849 horses, 183,783 horned cattle, 51,649 sheep, 20,695 swine, and 1075 goats. Rye, barley, oats, and wheat are the principal crops raised, but the produce of corn falls short of the demands of the people. Flax and hemp are also cultivated; and there are many kitchen gardens for the supply of the capital. Poultry of various kinds are kept, and fish are by no means scarce. The chief wealth of the country, however, depends on its timber, which forms an important article of export. Granite, limestone, marl, clay, and other minerals, are obtained in the government. Manufacturing industry is in a flourishing condition in St Petersburg; but this, as well as the commerce of the country, is for the most part confined to the capital. The government contained in 1849, 463 manufactories, employing 23,963 hands. Of the manufactories, the most important were 50 of tobacco, 47 of machines and hardware, 34 of silk, 23 of sugar, 27 of cotton cloth, 13 of woollen fabrics, 19 of glass and crystal, 15 of chemical substances, and 20 of leather. For the purposes of education the country belongs to the circle of St Petersburg; and contained in 1854, besides gymnasia and other superior institutions, 39 village schools, with 1220 scholars. The prevailing religion is that of the Greek Church; but there are 130,205 Protestants, 27,239 Roman Catholics, and a few Armenians, Mohammedans, and Jews among the population. In respect of race, the bulk of the people are... Petersburg Russians, though there are also in the country many Germans, Finns, and others. For administrative purposes it is divided into 8 circles, and except the capital, it has no town of any importance. Pop. (1851) 566,409.

a town and port of the United States of North America, state of Virginia, on the right bank of the Appomattox, 10 miles above its confluence with the James river, and 22 S. of Richmond. It is handsomely built, principally of brick, and is a place of much commercial importance, being, in respect to size, the third town in the state. Among the public edifices are a court-house; a jail; eight churches, belonging to Presbyterians, Methodists, Episcopalians, Baptists, and Roman Catholics; and three banks. The manufacturing establishments are several cotton and one woollen factory, two rope-walks, an iron furnace, six forges, and several mills. A great amount of water-power for these works is furnished by the falls of the river just above the town. A canal has been made round the falls, by means of which small boats are enabled to ascend for about 100 miles higher. Vessels of 100 tons burden come up to the town, and those of a larger size discharge their cargoes at City Point, the point of confluence of the Appomattox and the James, whence there is a railway to Petersburg. The aggregate tonnage of the vessels registered at the port, June 30, 1852, was 484; of those enrolled and licensed, 2110. In that year there entered 16 vessels, tonnage 10,147; and there cleared 10, tonnage 5102. The principal exports are flour and tobacco, in large quantities. A great fire took place here in 1815, when nearly 400 houses were destroyed. Pop. (1850) 14,010, (1853) about 15,000.